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May 28, 2018

India, Russia conclude negotiations for S-400 Triumf deal

India has concluded price negotiations with Russia for a nearly Rs
40,000 crore deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems
for the Indian Air Force, officials said.

They said the two
countries are now trying to find a way out to evade the provisions of a
US law that seeks to punish countries and entities engaged in
transactions with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.

"The
negotiations for the missile deal have been concluded. The financial
component has been finalised," a top official involved in the
negotiations for the deal with Russia told .

The official said
both Russia and India are likely to announce the deal before an annual
summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President
Vladimir Putin in October.

Two other officials said both sides
are now looking at ways to insulate the deal from the sanctions
announced by the US against Russia under its Countering America's
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

The issue is understood to have figured during Modi's informal talks with Putin in Sochi last week.

There
has been mounting concerns in India over the US sanctions against
Russian defence majors including Rosoboronexport as billions of dollars
of military purchases may be impacted because of the punitive measure.

The
US had announced sanctions against Russia under the stringent law for
its alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016.

CAATSA,
which came into effect in January, mandates the Donald Trump
administration to punish entities engaging in significant transaction
with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.

US
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis last month appealed to the Congress to
urgently provide India the national security waiver, saying imposing
sanctions under CAATSA for the S-400 air defence missile deal would only
hit the US.

India wants to procure the long-range missile
systems to tighten its air defence mechanism, particularly along the
nearly 4,000-km-long Sino-India border.

In 2016, India and
Russia had signed an agreement on the 'Triumf' interceptor-based missile
system which can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even
drones at ranges of up to 400 km. S-400 is known as Russia's most
advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.

China
was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal
with Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system and Moscow has
already started delivery of unknown number of the S-400 missile systems
to Beijing.

The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300
systems. The missile system, manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in
service in Russia since 2007.